MARKLE: TAXONOMY AND DISTRIBUTION OF ROULEINA 



kets and are very similar to the dermal compart- 

 ments in Xenodermichthys as illustrated and 

 described by Best and Bone (1976). 



Vaillant ( 1888, pi. 12, fig. 2) illustrated otoliths 

 and gave a vertebral count (Vaillant 1888,159) "II 

 y a 20 vertebres dorsales et 25 caudales." A radio- 

 graph of the contents of the jar containing MNHN 

 85-166 showed that the otoliths were intact and 

 there were 20 + 24 vertebrae. It is likely therefore 

 that both observations came from the missing 

 paratypes. A comparison of the illustrated otoliths 

 with recently collected material o{ Alepocephalus 

 agassizii, Xenodermichthys copei, Bathytroctes 

 microlepis, Narcetes stomias. and Ron leina attrita 

 shows they were undoubtedly taken from a 

 Rouleina. Haedrich and Polloni (1974) found un- 

 stated "significant differences" between their 

 Rouleina otoliths and Vaillant's, but their descrip- 

 tion and my examination of their specimens (ISH 

 950/73) shows them to heR. attrita. Therefore, the 

 vertebral counts, lateral line scales, Vaillant's es- 

 timate of number of (lateral line) scales, and oto- 

 liths indicate that the holotype and probably the 

 missing paratypes agree with recently collected 

 material of R. attrita. 



The remaining paratype, MNHN 85-169 (lat. 

 15°48'N, long. 20°23' W, 3,655 m), is a specimen of 

 Bellocia koefoedi Parr 1951. This identification is 

 based on examination of the type series of B. 

 koefoedi in the Zoological Museum, Bergen, and 

 the presence of the following diagnostic characters 

 in MNHN 85-169: palatine teeth present, gill rak- 

 ers 4-1-14 on first arch, body scaled, dorsal in- 

 serted in advance of anal, and a radiograph shows 

 22 + 18 = 40 vertebrae, 1 1 anal fin rays, and about 

 16 dorsal fin rays. The radiograph also shows oto- 

 liths in the skull and a standard length of no more 

 than 220 mm (Quero 1974 stated about 230 mm). 

 The length, intact otoliths, and vertebral count 

 indicate that Vaillant (1888) was not basing his 



description of /?. attrita on MNHN 85-169. How- 

 ever, since its condition is somewhat better than 

 the holotype, Vaillant's reference to scale rows 

 and a minimum of 1 1 anal fin rays may have been 

 based on comparison with this specimen. 



Description 



Accurate descriptions and illustrations can be 

 found in Goode and Bean (1895, as B. aequatoris), 

 Koehler (1896, as B. mollis), Koefoed (1927, as 

 Talismania mollis). Grey (1959), Haedrich and 

 Polloni ( 1974), and Pakhorukov ( 1976). Important 

 diagnostic meristic characters are in Table 1. In 

 addition, the present material showed the follow- 

 ing meristic variation (number of specimens in 

 parentheses): Pj6-7 (26), P26-7 without a splint 

 bone (27), gill rakers on first arch [7-8] -I- 1 + 

 [15-20] = [23-28] (23), branchiostegal rays 6 (5), 

 and pyloric caeca 7-11 ( 16). Teeth are present only 

 on the dentary, premaxillary, maxillary, third and 

 fourth infrapharyngobranchials, fourth epi- 

 branchial, and fifth ceratobranchial. 



Twenty-six specimens of/?, attrita, 57.1-378 mm 

 SL, showed much morphometric variation and no 

 noticeable differences with 19 R. maderensis, 

 86.7-323 mm SL. In both species smaller speci- 

 mens have relatively shorter caudal peduncles. In 

 addition, smaller specimens of R. attrita (<155 

 mm SL) lacked lateral line scales and the papillae 

 on the body were relatively longer and more 

 noticeable than in larger specimens. 



In one well-preserved large specimen, 347 mm 

 SL (USNM 215481), the branchiostegal mem- 

 branes, gill cavity, orbit, and bases of fins are 

 bluish. The rest of the body is covered by thin black 

 skin, under which is a network of longitudinally 

 aligned, fluid-filled, oblong dermal compartments 

 (Best and Bone 1976). The lateral line, which ex- 

 tends onto the caudal fin, is a tube supported by 



Table 1. — Selected counts of Rouleina attrita and R. maderensis (superscript prefix indicates type material of: 

 A — Bathytroctes attritus. B— 7?. maderensis, C — B. aequatoris, and D — B. mollis). 



Lateral line pores 



Total vertebrae 

 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 



Dl A,Ci3 15 7 



Be B22 8 1 



83 



